Toy track



A. R. CALLAHAN TOY TRACK F TTI 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HUR R. CALZAHAN A T NEVS 1937- A. R. CALLAHAN 2,079,065

TOY TRACK Filed Oct. 51, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4 Fig, 6

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[5 Ell r w r M/VENTOR AR 1? R. CLLAHAN Patented May 4, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT oF cE TOY TRACK Arthur R. Callahan, Brooklyn, N. Y. H Application October 31, 1935, Serial No. 47,527"

5 Claims.

. to form a track suitable for mechanical or wooden trains. An' object of theinvention is to provide a set of building blocks which may be put together by small children for making a track of the above type.

Another objectis to provide a set of building blocks for the above purpose having a minimum number of different elements.

Another object is to provide a set of building blocks 'for the above purpose including a simple binder for securing adjacent track sections. Another object is to provide a set of building blocks for the above purpose, in which the tie and binder are of identical construction and are interchangeable.

' Another object is to provide a track made of building blocks which are easily assembled and which is sufficiently rigid and strong to prevent displacement of the parts during ordinary use.

Another object isto provide a cheap, simple, convenient and commercially practical device of the type above indicated.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature 'of the invention is more fully disclosed.

9 A feature of the invention consists in the provision oi a set of building blocks made of wood or similar cheap material, and having only two different elements, a rail and a tie or hinder. The rails and ties are adapted to be interlocked to form track sections. The binderis adapted to interlock with the ties of adjacent track sections for securely holding the same in assembled positions. The tie and binder are identical in form and are interchangeable.

\ Although the various novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be pointed out more particularly in the claims appended hereto,'the broader aspects of the invention will 'be better understood byre- Fig. 6 is a top plan view showing the method of binding three track sections.

In the following description and in the claims certain specific terms are used for convenience in referring to various details; It is to be under stood, however, that these terms are to be interpreted as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

Referring more particularly to the specific em bodiment of the invention'sho-wn in the accompanying drawings, the rail it, which may be of any convenient length and of a suitable crosssection such as rectangular, is provided with a notch ll near each end thereof and with end shoulders l2. The notches H may be of a depth corresponding for example to one third of the height of the rail and are suitably dimensioned to cooperate with the'ties to be described. The shoulders l2 are preferably formed with a width half that of the notches H, so that when two rails are placed in end-to-end relationship the adjacent shoulders l2, form a notch adapted to receive and rest upon a second tie, over the center of which the joint'between the two rails rests. The center of the notch H is preferably spaced from the end of the rail .a distance corresponding to half'of the track gage, that is one half of the distance between the centers of the two rails of a track section.

The tie or binder is illustrated more in detail in Fig. 4 and comprises an element l5 having a cross section similar to that of the rail Ill and having a pair of notches l6 near the two ends thereof. spaced in accordance with the gage of the track so as to receive and hold the. two rails of a track section. The notches l5 preferably extend only about one third of the height of the element l5 and are adapted to interlock with the notches ll of the rails l so as to secure and hold the rail so that the rail will extend above the top of the. tie when so positioned.

The element I is also provided with a central notch I! which is of the same width as the notches IE but extends somewhat deeper such for example as a distance corresponding to two thirds of the height of the element I5. It will be noted that the spacing between the central notch l1 and the notches I6 is the same as the spacing between the notches ll of each rail and the shoulders l2 of the rail.

In assembling the above described elements to form a track, each track section is put together by positioning a pair of rails H! over a pair of ties with the notches ll of the rail interlocking with notches l6 in the ties. The rails are thus securely held in their proper relative positions to form an independent track section. A pair of such sections when placed end-to-end, are joined by positioning a third element l5 as an additional tie beneath the ends of the abutting rails with the notches I6 of such element engaging the shoulders I2 of the rails. The third tie in this way forms a support for the rail ends and prevents the rails from tipping up due to the weight of the car passing thereover.

The track sections are now interlocked by positioning an element l5 as a binder, with the notches at the bottom over the three ties above described, with the notches it of the binder interlocked with the notches ll of the two outer ties and with the notch I! of the binder engaging the notch I! of the center tie. It is to be noted that inasmuch as the notches l6 extend for one third of the height of the element I5 and the notches I! extend two thirds of the height of said element, when the binder and ties are assembled as above described, the top surface of the binder will be substantially flush with the top of the tie, as indicated more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The rails, however, extend above the ties a suitable distance to provide clearance for the flanges of the car wheels. It is to be noted that the set of blocks formed as above may be easily assembled to provide a track of any desired'length and that the interlocking means hold the track sufiiciently rigid to prevent accidental displacement thereof. The blocks may be formed of wood or similar material and are intended to provide a cheap and simple means for permitting tracks of indefinite length which may be put together by small children. It is obvious however, that the blocks may also be used as extensions for a toy track for mechanical trains.

While the elements have been shown as formed in a particular shape, it is obvious that the invention is not limited thereto as the elements may be made in any desired shape or size, depending upon the requirements of the particular case. Furthermore any suitable material may be used in making the elements.

It is understood that the invention is not to be limited in accordance with the particular embodiment described above. Various changes and modifications may be made therein as may be apparent to a person skilled in the art. The scope of the invention is only to be limited in accordance with the following claims when interpreted in view of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A building block set for use in making a toy track, said set comp-rising two different elements adapted to form rails and ties or binders respectively, the rail elements being of substantial length and having notches near their ends spaced to cooperate with ties, the tie elements having a pair of end notches spaced to receive the rails and to interlock with said first notches, said tie elements also having a central notch adapted to cooperate and interlock with the end notches of a third tie, the various notches above mentioned being so spaced that the end notches of the third tie register with the center notches of the adjacent ties of successive rail sections, whereby the third tie may be used as a binder for locking the adjacent sections together, the various notches above described being so spaced that said binder and tie elements are identical and interchangeable.

2. A set of building blocks adapted to form a toy track and comprising rail elements, tie elements and binder elements, said rail elements having a notch near each end adapted to cooperate with a tie, said tie elements having similar notches near their ends spaced to interlock with said first notches and to receive and hold the rails, said tie elements each having a center notch adapted to receive a binder element, said binder element having a pair of end notches adapted to engage and interlock with the center notches of said tie elements for joining successive rail sections, said binder and tie notches being of a depth such that the binder, when assembled, is below the top of the rails, the various notches above described being so spaced that the said binder and tie elements are identical and interchangeable.

3. A set of blocks adapted to form a toy track comprising rails and ties, said rails having notches near their ends adapted to receive ties, said ties' having similar notches spaced to interlock with tral notches adapted to receive a binder, and a binder having a cross section similar to that of said ties and having notches adapted to interlock with said central notches of the adjacent ties of the adjoining rail sections and being adapted to seat substantially flush with said ties, the dimension and spacing of said notches being such that said ties and binder are of identical form and interchangeable.

4. A set of blocks adapted to form a toy track, comprising rails and ties having interlocking means and a binder adapted to span the adjacent ties of adjoining track sections and having means to interlock with said ties, said ties and binders being identical and interchangeable.

5. A toy track comprising rails, ties and binders, said rails and ties having notches adapted to interlock for assembling the track, said ties and binders having notches adapted to interlock for joining adjacent track sections, said notches being so disposed that said ties and binders are iden-' tical and interchangeable.

ARTHUR R. CALLAHAN. 

